I've finally realized that the reason our S/V90's have so much breakage is that Volvo cheaped out. The 140's (for the most part) were overbuilt. The 240's were very sturdily built. As time went on, Volvos became less and less well built because they couldn't offer the luxury content that the market demanded and still keep the quality, at a competitive price. What's strange is that the Japanese succeeded where Volvo failed. Must have something to do with suppliers and labor rates in the EU (where most Volvo parts are made?) vs labor rates in China (where many Japanese parts are made?).

For instance, today while putting windshield washer fluid in the V90, TWO parts of the washer bottle broke. I normally walk on eggshells around this car because it is so fragile so I was being careful, I was not being forceful. The blue cap split in the middle as I was carefully pressing it back on. When I tried to pull the cap off to inspect the failure, the fill-neck pulled out of the reservoir and spilled out the fluid that was in the neck. : (

There is no excuse for this except cheaping out. They spec'd a low quality, too thin plastic for the lid. They spec'd a two piece reservior design instead of a one piece design. The fill neck can off course be reinserted, but once out, is now more likely to come out again and to leak at the junction. The two piece design, while maybe cheaper to install, is prone to leakage.

My 1994 Toyota Corolla (4 years older) has had a 100% reliable, unbreakable windshield washer fluid storage system. I wonder why.

This is just one small area but is axiomatic of the whole car. They cheaped out on everything in order to offer a high content car and as a result, we are doomed to continuous failure of plastic, pot-metal, and electrical parts that are not up to the old Volvo standards. This is particularly inexcusable in a Swedish car company that they would not carefully select parts that maintain their strength in low tempuratures. This is a large reason while I will never buy another new Volvo.